Hit Pick

Munly, aka Jay Munly, aka Jayson Munly Thompson, Friday, March 31, with Maraca 5-0 and Hoochie at the Raven, plies a variety of kitchen-sink Americana that gives a wonderful new meaning to the phrase "gross domestic product." Originality must have been the most abundant of the many strange elements saturating the soil from which this local singer/songwriter/guitarist grew. Tall, lanky and wry, Munly and his acoustic confederacy of musical subversives have released three captivating CDs on Top Notch, an imprint of the Boulder-based What Are Records? label. Although they generally rely on a stable of instruments familiar to country folk (misfit guitars, banjos, mandolins, cornets, keyboards, accordions, drum kits, basses), the result is more gothic nightmare than family reunion. Munly sings about shame, Southerners and shootings with a voice that combines the pitch and woe of Hank Williams Sr. and the fire and brimstone of his compatriot in 16 Horsepower, David Eugene Edwards. Munly is a member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, but his solo work stakes out a different territory. His cathartic rave-ups, hootenanny-ready reels, ballads with loads of oompah and Tom Dooley-inspired dirges are a precious commodity all their own.

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